Managing a Creative Life in a Chaotic World

Tis the Season

During no other time of the year do people have more plates in the air then now. Every year I tell myself I’m going to cut back, and every year I find myself clinging to things out of nostagia and tradition. But this past weekend I got the tree up and despite a small catastrophe when the stand cracked and we had to rush out and get a new one, and it still leans like the Tower of Pisa, it’s done. For a while I thought we were going to finally break down and get an artificial tree, but now that it smells like Christmas through the whole house, I’m so glad we went real. Never mind that I’m on deadline for my next picture book (only the cover to go), never mind that my house looks like a bomb went off, never mind that the dog hasn’t had a good walk in a week, tis the season to sit back and revel in the memories of childhood, gather with friends, and give myself permission to let things slide a little. Hope you’ll do the same. So a few plates fall–you can be sure someone is planning to give you some new ones.